Cave Wall Guardians

David Chethlahe Paladin

About The Cave Wall Guardians

This substantial painting by Paladin relates easily to several examples in Paladin's book Painting the Dream.  

Early ancestors participate with creator spirits to bring new life forms into being.  The first serpent priest receives the serpent bringing prayers from the people on the land to the earth spirits residing beneath the earth's surface.

In the book Paladin comments about the shamans who "used pigments made from ash, mineral and plant pollen to create art on the cave walls and cliffs of the Southwestern United States.  . . Raised on the Navajo reservation, I paint from memories gathered as a child, when I spent hours looking at these strange figures from the past.  To me, they became a symbol of the rich cultural heritage left by my ancestors.  I have never felt apart from that ancient world."

About David Chethlahe Paladin

(1926-1984) Painting the Dream: the Visionary Art of Navajo Painter David Chethlahe Paladin was published in 1992 by the artist's widow, Lynda Paladin. This artist credited Marc Chagall, Mark Tobey and Morris Graves as influencing his approach to painting as well as how he treated his subject matter.

The Huichol Indians' work also impacted the appearance of his art. For 2 1/2 years Paladin was a prisoner of war, released finally at Dachau in a near coma state.

In 1975 Newsweek cited him as the nation's "leading Navajo modern artist". The Santa Fean magazine named him Artist of the Year in 1981.

Major exhibitions of his work have taken place at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth (1966), at the Heard Museum (1967, 1975), at the William Penn Memorial Museum in Pittsburgh (1969), at the Albuquerque Museum (1975, 1985), at the American Indian Art Center in New York (1975), at the Navajo Tribal Museum in Window Rock, Arizona (1984), at the San Diego Museum of Man (1985) and at the Museum of Art at the University of Arizona in Tucson (1988).

Other Works By David Chethlahe Paladin:

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Cultures

American Indian, Navajo, Arizona

Medium

Paintings

Subject

American Indians

Keywords

David Paladin, Chethlahe painting, Navajo painting, Cave Wall Guardians